Wish I had a river

The Snooki Song

When I am bored, I love to surf around YouTube and watching the comedy channel there. My favorite channels would be ShaneDawsonTV2 and VenetianPrincess. I wondered how much time and effort they spent in making one of their videos. My new favorite would be from VenetianPrincess, The Snooki Song (Parody of Tik Tok by Ke$ha), major LOL!

Do you have your favorite YouTube superstar too? Do let me know! BTW, have you watch Jersey Shore? HAPPY MONDAY!

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.





PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!



First THREE Commenters:

+ Gagay from The Latest Buzzzz +
+ Mariuca from Mariuca Wishing on a Falling Star +
+ Monica from Turn You Off +

(Whoever won the most First Commenter contests will be featured for a month!)

Bluecrystaldude

If you find this blog is interesting enough, do subscribe to Hot Shit Form Here by Email! I would be very happy!

Big Love, "The Mighty and the Strong": The candidate

A few quick thoughts on tonight's "Big Love" coming up just as soon as I stay at a Holiday Inn Express...

There are shows with insufferable main characters where the creative teams clearly don't recognize how insufferable those characters have become. (See, for example, Jack in "Lost" seasons 2 and 3.) The "Big Love" writers, fortunately, don't have any myopia when it comes to Bill, made abundantly clear by an episode like "The Mighty and the Strong," in which Bill bullies and/or manipulates everyone around him to get what he wants (in this case, his idiotic, obviously doomed plan to run for office so he can come out of the polygamist closet) while his friends and family struggle to keep up with his megalomania. Bill chose politics over trying to succeed Roman as the next prophet of Juniper Creek, but in a moment like the show's closing scene - where he agrees that Ben is wise to leave home for a while, in the same way the old men of the Creek always chased away the young boys when they threatened their access to the young women - is there really any difference? Hell, he even sends Nicki undercover to get dirt on his opponent, just like Roman did last season.

What was interesting about this episode was in seeing how, despite Bill's increasingly selfish, destructive behavior, the people around him have often turned out to be good. Ben is stand-up from beginning to end in this one (aside from his Benjamin Braddock moment in the family swimming pool), Sarah takes care of the baby (and we see that her marriage to Scott is everything that Barb once thought her marriage to Bill was), and even poor Don is such a good friend to Bill that he lets himself take the public fall, putting his freedom and his family at risk to enable Bill's run for office.

Even Alby has become, if not sympathetic - you can't use that adjective to describe someone who sells his mother into slavery with his sister's hated ex-husband - then recognizably human. Alby still has too much of Roman in him, but his father's death is letting him question things about himself and his upbringing (at the same time Nicki's doing it, interestingly enough).

Still not interested in JJ, or the usual antics with Bill's mom and dad, or the casino, but at the moment the good stuff's outweighing the bad - even if a lot of the good involves depicting how bad Bill has become.

What did everybody else think?

Seventeen years ago tonight... 'Homicide' was born

A friend reminded me that on this night 17 years ago, after the first Cowboys-Bill Super Bowl, a little show called "Homicide: Life on the Street" debuted. Inspired by David Simon's great book about the year he spent embedded with a real Baltimore PD Homicide unit, "Homicide" has since been overshadowed by Simon's work on "The Wire," but the original show was pretty incredible in its own right.

Though my heart ultimately gravitated towards "NYPD Blue," "Homicide" at its peak was the better of the two classic '90s cop dramas, and it gave the world the majestic splendor that was Andre Braugher as Frank Pembleton, which you can enjoy in this scene from that very first episode, "Gone for Goode."

(I don't want to give short-shrift to the many other wonderful "Homicide" characters and actors, like Clark Johnson as Meldrick Lewis or Yaphet Kotto as Lt. Giardella, but Braugher's star always burned hottest and brightest on that show.)

And, for good measure, a few other bits of classic "Homicide" I could find on YouTube:

• Pembleton gets a confession from a man he knows is innocent, just to prove a point to his boss. (This is a very long clip, but every second is worth it.)

• Bolander and Munch employ a new kind of lie detector (in a gag Simon would re-use on "The Wire").

• Kay Howard's perfect streak continues (also from the pilot).

• Howard and Tim Bayliss quit smoking and drive their partners crazy in the process.

• Meldrick is a Luddite (and a smooth operator).

God, I miss that show. It was never the same after the third season, as they began to introduce younger, more attractive, duller cops and eeeevil drug lords in futile attempts to goose the ratings, but good lord, when it was good, it was incredible.

DopeSauce: K-Beta - Come Closer

New song from DMV's own, K-Beta of InnerLoop Records.  "Come Closer", produced by Grussle aka E-Minah is a smooth track featuring the soft yet soulful vocals of Mina. Look for more music, updates, and the Valentine's Day video release here and on InnerLoop Records. Follow K-Beta on twitter @K_Beta. Listen and download "Come Closer" after the jump.


K-Beta - Come Closer Ft. Mina (Prod. By Grussle)

Download "Come Closer" HERE


Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet

Twitter
@ILLPROPHET
Facebook Personal Profile
Illyus Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page -
www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Ill Prophet Facebook Group
Ill Prophet

There is a new blog logo. Discuss.

The latest logo should be largely self-explanatory, what with that show that's returning on Tuesday night. But I will say that I wrestled for a long time on which combination of four people to go with, and/or what theme to use (dead people? characters in flashbacks?) before setting on this grouping/theme.

A reminder, as always, that you can find links to, and explanations for, all the previous logos in this post. Also, since the first four minutes of the season have leaked on-line (and since there was a screening of the first hour of the premiere in Hawaii last night), let me remind you in no uncertain terms of the No Spoiler policy around here. Do not mention anything you've seen, or anything you've read. Do not even hint at it. Got me?

Indignant confusion and the Paris Lido: the strange legacy of the Marchesa Casati

Yesterday was spent exactly as I always dreamed Saturdays in France would be spent. Beloved husband attended a statistics class while I sat in a cafe in Fontainebleau sipping tea and reading. In the evening we put down our books and headed for Paris and for a table under the glittering lights and before the leggy, feathered show boys and girls of the Lido caberet. And if that sounds decadent – that is before I have even let on what I was reading. The book that I devoured in the cafe yesterday was an example of my chief vice – it was an art book. They cost too much, they are full of pictures and they certainly do not fit in your handbag – and yet I find them compulsive.

“The Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a Muse” by Scot D Ryersson and Michael Orlando Yaccarino is quite a thing to find compulsive. It is the story in words, pictures, fabrics and collages of one of the strangest, most narcissistic, most creative and downright outrageous women known to history – Luisa, the Marchesa Casati. Luisa (which I shall take the liberty of calling her) was born in late 19th century Milan and at 13 was Italy’s wealthiest heiress. She made a consensual but loveless arranged marriage early and had a child. But the world of respectable wife and mother was not one that she would inhabit for long.

Almost overnight Luisa transformed herself into a man eating, drug taking international muse. She said that she wanted to become a work of art and to this end her image was her only real focus. Any artist who came within kissing distance was commissioned to represent her appearance – she was painted on canvas, captured on film, sculpted in clay and cast in bronze. She accentuated her emaciated 6 feet tall figure with elaborate headpiece and sky high heels. In an age where some still considered piano legs to be risqué she attended parties wearing nothing but a fur cape and high heels. Her look was completed with a menagerie of exotic animals - monkeys, panthers and snakes which would be worn live and venomous around her white neck.

Such was her self-absorption that she dissipated her entire fortune on costumes, parties, paintings and the furnishing of gin palace homes. By the 1940s she was living in a bed-sit in London kohling her famous eyes with cherry blossom boot polish. There she died in 1957. Before her death she had taken to wearing a waste paper basket sheathed in black velvet on her head. She had even been seen foraging in a Mayfair bin. The cultural legacy associated with her image is colossal. In our own time it has been represented by Tennessee Williams, Cecil Beaton, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld and Tom Ford to name but a few.

For me, Luisa is a most confusing figure. One side of me is frustrated that a woman so narcissistic, so intellectually insubstantial could ever become a figure of cultural resonance and in anyway represent her sex. Equally, one has to admire the sheer subversion of Luisa Casati – she was not willing to do one single thing that society demanded of her and she pursued all that was not allowed and disapproved of. The urge to disobey exists in us all, but Luisa was brave enough to respond to it. At the same time, she became a figure of fun and her life, at its end, was a profoundly sad one. The authors of this pictorial biography are quite right though, when they write that her cultural legacy is so huge that we hardly even notice it anymore. This was the thought that struck me as the lights in the Paris lido dimmed and out strutted a troupe of men and women, scantily clad, gold heeled, heavily made up and topped with crowns and feathers. The image which the Marchesa Casati invented in the early part of the twentieth century, is still with us today.

SNL: Hamm & Buble, together at last

Haven't written about "Saturday Night Live" for most of this season because, frankly, most of the episodes have been so terrible that it hasn't been worth the effort. But Jon Hamm's second appearance last night was in some ways even funnier than his first. Some thoughts on it (along with plenty of video links) coming up just as soon as I feel the wind blowing...

There was the requisite Don Draper parody (this time as part of a monologue depicting some his pre-Draper roles), and of course a sketch playing off his handsomeness Hamm as Scott Brown). But there were also weirder turns, like his work as the symbol of a gypsy curse in the Digital Short, or his random, disturbing testimonial in the middle of the already bizarre Closet Organizer ad. (I also liked the very low-key, late-in-the-show sketch where Hamm played a guy meeting the star of that ad.)

Not everything worked. The first post-monologue sketch was another one where they rode a Kristin Wiig tic into the ground, and I really wish they had left the "Greg is not an alien" sports talk show as a one-time thing. (Though Hamm did a decent Bill Hader impression in this one.)

The Digital Short's climax was the night's comic highlight for me, but a very close second was the inevitable sequel to Jon Hamm's John Ham, here with Hamm and musical guest Michael Buble opening the Hamm & Buble restaurant.

"SNL" is often only as good as its host, and in Hamm they've found a guy who's game for anything. Here's hoping his stints become an annual event.

What did everybody else think?

Dark Ditties: The Unquiet Grave

"The Unquiet Grave" is an old English folk song believed to date back to at least 1400, and it details a man whose lover has been killed. As was one of the superstitions of the day, the man mourns her too much, thus preventing her from reaching peace and moving onto the next realm. While sitting at her grave, his tears awaken her from the dead, and he attempts to get a little PG-Rated necrophilia love, but she warns him that such an act would surely kill him.

Kinda creepy.

There are dozens of variations on this ballad, but this version was pulled from 1904's Ballads of Mystery and Miracle and Fyttes of Mirth, compiled by Frank Sidgwick. It's a dark little ditty, so I thought I'd pass it on to you.

The Unquiet Grave

1.
The wind doth blow today, my love,
And a few small drops of rain;
I never had but one true love,
In cold grave she was lain.

2.
I'll do as much for my true love
As any young man may;
I'll sit and mourn all at her grave
For a twelvemonth and a day.

3.
The twelvemonth and a day being up,
The dead began to speak:
'Oh who sits weeping on my grave,
And will not let me sleep?'

4.
'Tis I, my love, sits on your grave,
And will not let you sleep;
For I crave one kiss of your clay-cold lips,
And that is all I seek.'

5.
'You crave one kiss of my clay-cold lips;
But my breath smells earthy strong;
If you have one kiss of my clay-cold lips,
Your time will not be long.'

6.
'Tis down in yonder garden green,
Love, where we used to walk;
The finest flower that ere was seen
Is withered to a stalk.'

7.
'The stalk is withered dry, my love,
So will our hearts decay;
So make yourself content, my love,
Till God calls you away.'

--J/Metro

Karen Black: Five Easy Pieces

For a waitress like me stuck in a man's tie and a boring white button down, she's the ultimate style icon. Her black eyeliner and over-lashed black lashes perfectly match her pink-painted pout, and her peach diner dress and white toeless heels look awesome... even better when she throws her leopard print coat on top of it all. But my favorite Rayette Dipesto style companent is her immaculate hair. It's bleached golden. It curls around her face like an angel's halo hovers above a cherub's head. It looks like a million bucks whether up or down. That's why when she tells her (unknown to Rayette) foil and main Nicholson competitor Katherine that she loves her "head of hair," I laugh every time. Katherine's hair looks like a frizzed out mess of shit, and her outfits that consist of high-waisted sagging jeans, hideous Dances with Wolves coats, rose-colored turtle neck sweaters and armpit hair (I swear...) don't hold a candle to DiPesto's duds. Might Rayette be a little unsophisticated? Desperate? A tad annoying and a bit unable to take the hint? Who cares? Girlfriend was ready to love Bobby DuPea till the end of time and to do it with manners, a song in her heart, and the upmost level of style and chic ever seen in American 1970's cinema.

Plus Karen Black can act the hell out of any role, and anyone that can hold her own opposite Jack Nicholson is okay in my book.

measuring my real age

I remember being a little kid in the living room watching TV or playing with Silly Sally listening to my mom while she talked on the phone for what seemed like hours and even though I can't remember the conversations, I do remember thinking they sounded so adult. And all the way up into my teens, I wondered when I'd really be a grown up. Well here I am, 15, 20, 25 years later and still sometimes feel like I'm waiting for that moment that I feel like a grown up. I used to think that our childrens ages define our own age. I came to this realization the last time me and my girlfriends went to what used to be our favorite bar to dance (& do shooters) and we noticed that everyone else in the bar dancing & doing shooters were closer to our kids ages than our ages. It wasn't pretty let me tell ya. So it seems that older people with younger kids have it pretty good - they've aged, sure, but having wee one's around keeps em young. A 40 year old with a toddler at home for example still looks and sounds young, just like a 26 year old with a 14 year old at home (hey, I've seen it happen) already looks and sounds old(ish). So even though I'm only 30, I'm really almost over the hill because I have a 12 year old. That sucks rocks if you look at it that way. But having hit a milestone this year, maybe I'll have to reconsider what it is that makes a person old more grown up. This is the year I get extra vacation time at work. For the past few years, I've been bitter about the way my company hands out vacation time. Instead of taking into consideration all the years of hard work we put in with the same industry (oil & gas of course up here in Calgary), vacation time is based on the employees age. Wtf? Two years ago, I was none to happy to learn that our department had hired 2 women in their late 40's who were not only virgins to the industry, but had been "homemakers" pretty much their entire adult lives. Now, I'm not saying anything negative about the choice to be a homemaker, but ... BUT ... for anyone to go into any job with no prior experience and have 5 weeks of vacation immediately handed to them when at the same job, someone else (me) has been working their (my) ass of for nearly 10 years only to have earned 3 weeks vacation because they were (I was) under 30 seems like a little bit of bullshit to me. Just my honest opinion. And as a matter of fact, that sounds like a little bit of age descrimination. Anywhoo, this wasn't supposed to be ranting blog ... I swear I started it with a positive intention ... I am thrilled that I get the extra vacation time I've been waiting so many years for. A whopping 3 and a half days more .. that's prorated of course because I turn 31 in May ... they are precise aren't they? I suppose it's better than stewing over my measley 3 weeks, growling at everyone who gets those extra weeks while I pass them in the halls. And in 2011, I'll get that extra day and a half. That's what is going to make me feel old ... being in the 4-week-vacation age bracket at work. It certainly wont have anything to do with having an almost 14 year old .....

DopeSauce: Mullyman - She Hurtin' Em (Music Video)

Mullyman |MTV Music

Mullyman gives us "She Hurtin Em". Directed by Tabi Bonney and Cool Kids Forever Films. Look for it on premiering on MTVJams today!!
Follow Mullyman on twitter @Mullyman.

Behind the Scenes Mullyman Freestyle on the set of "She Hurtin Em"


Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet

Twitter
@ILLPROPHET
Facebook Personal Profile
Illyus Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page -
www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Ill Prophet Facebook Group
Ill Prophet

And on Fridays, we read poetry

A few years ago, when I was getting feedback from the students in my literature classes, they suggested that instead of studying poetry for a month at the end of the semester, that I spread it out over the semester. So I restructured my course, making every Friday poetry day. Fridays became a relaxed, informal day of class — we would talk about the poems I had assigned, of course, but students also often brought their own poems to read aloud and sometimes food. My students are not English majors — we don’t even have English majors at Small Green — and writing poetry is definitely a move out of the comfort zone for most of them.

This year, when I announced that Fridays would be poetry day, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s been two years since I taught the course because I was on sabbatical last year. My classes are limited to 20 students, but they are students from all different programs on campus — from wildlife biology to landscape architecture to chemistry to paper science engineering. I figured it would take a while for them to get to know each other and be brave enough to share poetry they’d written.

So yesterday, while we were talking before class about horror movies, Sharon Olds, and J.D. Salinger, I was pleasantly surprised when the student who had walked in wearing a fuzzy winter hat with animal ears on it said, “I brought a poem of mine to read.” Another student, a young woman who had shown me a sad break-up poem, said, “Hey, I’ll read my poem if you read yours.” A third student, a young woman who wearing bright colored leg warmers, said, “I like the idea of poetry buddies!” She looked across the room at a fourth student who had brought a poem. “I’ll read mine if you read yours.”

So we began class with four students reading their poems and a lively discussion about why we write poetry, and whether or not poetry can raise environmental awareness enough to get people to change their actions. It’s going to be a good semester.

Bully in the Market Place

My name is Michael Malone and I’m a bookaholic.

Therefore when I read a report in the New York Times (get me) about Amazon excluding the titles of e-books from MacMillan, one of America’s biggest publishers from its marketplace, I get the shudders.

As a keen reader I want choice. As a writer with aspirations I want a marketing platform. The sheer size and power of a supermarket like Amazon is a threat to all of that.

The book-buying world is changing on a daily basis. The real engine of variety in the publishing world – the indie bookshops – are dying off; the limited shelf-space of Tesco/ Asda is getting more and more powerful; the one decent book chain in the country, Waterstones is losing its direction. And Amazon is getting too big for it’s bully-boy boots.

Apart from this most recent flexing of their over-sized musculature they were also having a spat with Hachette in the summer of 2008. They demanded a bigger discount on Hachette’s titles, were refused and this led to Amazon removing its “Buy new” button from key Hachette front and backlist titles, and dropping books from promotional positions. Titles affected included those from the likes of Stephen King and James Patterson.

It’s the equivalent of going into a bookshop and asking for “Under the Dome” and being told to fuck off. Now I worked in a bookshop for a couple of years, and when people came in to buy books by Katie Price I was seriously tempted to give just that response, but I wouldn’t dare. You give the people want they want – no matter how terrible their taste might be.

You could argue – and Amazon has done just that – that the consumer will be the winner in such a battle. But here’s the nightmare scenario: Amazon become the biggest book retailer in the planet. They dictate terms with all of the publishers. They fine (and this has already happened) those who don’t deliver books on time – a difficult situation for the smaller publisher. Publishers can only make enough to cover their overheads if they publish titles with a massive and proven audience. The independent publishers go the same way as the independent bookshops. As for writers? The experimental, the new, the literary...anyone who comes under the category of being Less Than A Sure Thing is faced with the choice of publishing with an online and on-demand “publisher” or publishing limbo for the rest of their career. Which to be fair, between these two choices is surely one and the same thing.

Wonderful (can you TASTE the sarcasm) the consumer gets cheap books. They just all happen to be from the same dwindling group of writers and the odd ham-fisted attempt from the latest celebrity-author. Never mind the quality, folks feel the price.

As for choice... what choice?

The bloggy world is full of authors who are now removing the Amazon buy button from their sites, but ultimately the decision is yours. You, the consumer get to decide. Do you want choice and a continued strong reading experience or do you want the scenario outlined above? If you don’t the option is simple. Get off-line, walk into your nearest bookshop and buy a book. And NO, Tesco and Asda don’t count.

DopeSauce:Erykah Badu - Jump In The Air (Stay There)

If you have been following my blog, you know a while back I posted a raw recording of a track from Erykah Badu tentatively named "Jump In The Air". Ms.Badu has finally given us the full song as the first single off the forthcoming sequel to New Amerykah:Part One(4th World War). New Amerykah:Part 2(Return of The Ankh)production credits include, of course, Erykah Badu, Questlove, 9th, Madlib, and Jay Dilla(RIP).

Here is the tracklisting:
New Amerykah:Part 2(Return of The Ankh)
1 20 Feet Tall [produced by Erykah Badu and 9th Wonder]
2 Window Seat [produced by Erykah Badu and James Poyser, featuring ?uestlove]
3 Agitation [produced by Erykah Badu and Shafiq Husayn of SA-RA Creative Partners]
4 Get Money [produced by Erykah Badu]
5 Don't Be Long [produced by Erykah Badu and Taarak]
6 Love [produced by Erykah Badu and J Dilla]
7 Umm Hmm [produced by Erykah Badu and Madlib]
8 Fall in Love [produced by Erykah Badu and Karriem Riggins]
9 Incense (Instrumental) [produced by Erykah Badu and Madlib]
10 Out My Mind Just in Time (Part 1) (Undercover Over-Lover) [produced by Erykah Badu]
11 Out My Mind Just in Time (Part 2) [produced by Erykah Badu and Georgia Anne Muldrow]
12 Jump in the Air [ft. Lil Wayne and Bilal] [produced by Erykah Badu, RC Williams and Jahborn]

Follow Erykah on twitter @FatBellyBella and check www.ErykahBadu.com
Listen and Download "Jump In The Air(Stay There) after the jump.


Erykah Badu - Jump In The Air(Stay There) Ft. Lil Wayne & Bilal

Download "Jump In The Air(Stay There) HERE

Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet

Twitter
@ILLPROPHET
Facebook Personal Profile
Illyus Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page -
www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Ill Prophet Facebook Group
Ill Prophet

The Teacher (1974)

The Teacher

Written & Directed by Howard Avedis

Diane Marshall...Angel Tompkins
Sean Roberts...Jay North
Ralph Gordon...Anthony James

Ralph Gordon was probably the happiest Peeping Tom ever, sporting a shit-eating Cheshire Cat grin while leering through his binoculars (which he stores in an old, red coffin, along with the rest of his dangerous stalker paraphernalia) at Diane Marshall, the hot young high school teacher that surely fuels many a student's masturbatory fantasy. But when Ralph's younger brother Lou and his best friend Sean invade his one-man pervert party, a confrontation leads to the accidental death of Lou, and Sean is too frightened of Ralph to say anything to the police.

Time truly does heal all wounds, and within days (if not hours) Sean is acting as if there never was a Lou. He's too busy ogling Diane himself--who, it turns out, is both his teacher and his neighbor. But this is no Cory Matthews/Mr. Feeny relationship that they have--Thank God--as Diane wastes no time in seducing her virginal student as soon as summer vacation begins.

The flirtatious and wildly inappropriate game of cat and mouse between the two is flaunted openly, watched from a distance by the still-leering Ralph, and practically encouraged by Sean's mother Alice! If that's not creepy enough, she openly admits, "What can I say? I find him attractive...even if he is my son!" Unbelievably, that's not even the creepiest line of dialogue here. As Diane begins her strategic seduction, she invites Sean into her house, but his initial reluctance prompts her to rationalize, "Come on in a minute. I'm not going to rape you. It's too early in the morning for that!"

When the seduction is complete, young Sean is initially to enamored too realize that an obviously mentally deranged stalker can quite easily turn into a jealous "boyfriend", and the threat of Ralph's menace is constantly lurking in the background, culminating in a violent finale.

Can't say that I really blame Sean for being hot for teacher. She was gorgeous, willing, and often scantily clad (which you knew she would be when you saw a bikini designer listed in the opening credits) when not outright nude. Curiously, though, for a movie that plays so much off of the 'taboo' nature of this relationship and revels in Erotica-Lite, the sex scenes were notably un-sexy: Two bodies lying still on top of each other, occasionally whimpering. Not exactly titillating.

As a whole, this movie isn't quite as sleazy or exploitative as it could have been--or should have been--but there are enough slimy and off-beat elements here to make this a worthy watch for fans of less-than-moral movies.

It should also be noted that Jay North had played the lead in TV's Dennis the Menace (1959-1963), and this is an episode from that series that you're never going to see: After he grows up and Mr. and Mrs. Wilson kick the bucket, Dennis trades his tricycle in for a wood-paneled conversion van, watches his pal Joey fall to his death, and then nails Margaret's mother.

Ruff would be proud, Dennis...even if you didn't do it doggy style.

AKA: The Seductress

View the trailer below!


1974
Rated R
98 Minutes
Color
English
United States

"After School ... Her Lessons Began With Sex and Ended in Violence."
--J/Metro

Mötley Crüe in concert at MTS Centre (Winnipeg, MB), January 29, 2010- David Lipnowski Photography - Concert Photography

Mötley Crüe was back in Winnipeg, slideshow of my photography from the show here!

Dogs and cars... travel safely

I was reading about unrestrained dogs in cars today - and how they are a safety issue.

Your pet dog could literally become a dangerous missile in a car crash if it’s left unrestrained.
Police and the SPCA are urging people to restrain animals in cars while driving to prevent harm to both passengers and pets.
Serious crash unit sergeant Paul Latham says unrestrained animals become "projectiles" in crashes, whether they’re in the front seat or back.
"If your pet’s on your lap you are more likely to do more damage to the animal as it will hit the windscreen," he says.
"If it’s unrestrained in the back it becomes a real hazard to the driver. "If the pet’s an alsatian or a labrador, that’s a lot of weight coming from the back and if you’re travelling at 50kmh that weight’s going to be heading towards you at that speed."

One of the things I like about my wagon is the fact I can tie Saff and Jess into the boot area when we are driving. It never used to worry me having a dog loose in the car, until the day I was cruising along in my mini, top speed 80k, large black lab sitting behind me and the backpack from my passenger next to her... all good until the backpack fell over. Next thing I have paws flung around my neck and I am trying to drive with her climbing over my head. Not a good plan and I am pleased it didn't result in an accident.

As vets, we often hear tales of accidents caused by cats trapped under brake pedals, and small dogs thrown through windscreens...  and recently, the tailgating at the lights which triggered the airbags and made a sorry mess of the Bichon Frise sitting on it's owners lap! The driver survived!

One of my students told me that they carefully clipped their dog to their ute in the legal manner, but this time, they had a second dog along. All went well until the dogs got tangled and the carabina became unclipped, resulting in their own dog flying off the ute into oncoming traffic where she was killed. So often we see dogs being hung off the sides of trucks, or dragged along, degloving their limbs and facing long and expensive treatment or euthanasia. We see plenty who lose a limb, and many who don't survive.

So, there are a number of ways you can restrain your dogs while driving, and they are not all about cages and grilles for station wagons or trailers or dog boxes hanging above the back bumper! Your dog can travel in style and comfort :)

 

 

“In an interesting turn of events, cars are now chasing dogs,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda. “Factory integration of a cushioned pet bed, restraint systems and other components is intended to transform the Element into the ultimate dog car.” You can read more at:
Honda - dog friendly cars


The Dog Friendly™ components will likely include:
* a cushioned pet bed in the cargo area with an elevated platform;
* second row and cargo area pet restraint systems;
* an extendable cargo area load-in ramp;
* a 12V DC rear ventilation fan;
* second-row seat covers with a dog pattern design (matches the bed fabric);
* all-season rubber floor mats with a toy bone pattern;
* a spill-resistant water bowl; and
* Dog Friendly exterior emblems.

The future of dog travel looks bright :)

Dogs and cars... travel safely

I was reading about unrestrained dogs in cars today - and how they are a safety issue.

Your pet dog could literally become a dangerous missile in a car crash if it’s left unrestrained.
Police and the SPCA are urging people to restrain animals in cars while driving to prevent harm to both passengers and pets.
Serious crash unit sergeant Paul Latham says unrestrained animals become "projectiles" in crashes, whether they’re in the front seat or back.
"If your pet’s on your lap you are more likely to do more damage to the animal as it will hit the windscreen," he says.
"If it’s unrestrained in the back it becomes a real hazard to the driver. "If the pet’s an alsatian or a labrador, that’s a lot of weight coming from the back and if you’re travelling at 50kmh that weight’s going to be heading towards you at that speed."

One of the things I like about my wagon is the fact I can tie Saff and Jess into the boot area when we are driving. It never used to worry me having a dog loose in the car, until the day I was cruising along in my mini, top speed 80k, large black lab sitting behind me and the backpack from my passenger next to her... all good until the backpack fell over. Next thing I have paws flung around my neck and I am trying to drive with her climbing over my head. Not a good plan and I am pleased it didn't result in an accident.

As vets, we often hear tales of accidents caused by cats trapped under brake pedals, and small dogs thrown through windscreens...  and recently, the tailgating at the lights which triggered the airbags and made a sorry mess of the Bichon Frise sitting on it's owners lap! The driver survived!

One of my students told me that they carefully clipped their dog to their ute in the legal manner, but this time, they had a second dog along. All went well until the dogs got tangled and the carabina became unclipped, resulting in their own dog flying off the ute into oncoming traffic where she was killed. So often we see dogs being hung off the sides of trucks, or dragged along, degloving their limbs and facing long and expensive treatment or euthanasia. We see plenty who lose a limb, and many who don't survive.

So, there are a number of ways you can restrain your dogs while driving, and they are not all about cages and grilles for station wagons or trailers or dog boxes hanging above the back bumper! Your dog can travel in style and comfort :)

 

 

“In an interesting turn of events, cars are now chasing dogs,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda. “Factory integration of a cushioned pet bed, restraint systems and other components is intended to transform the Element into the ultimate dog car.” You can read more at:
Honda - dog friendly cars


The Dog Friendly™ components will likely include:
* a cushioned pet bed in the cargo area with an elevated platform;
* second row and cargo area pet restraint systems;
* an extendable cargo area load-in ramp;
* a 12V DC rear ventilation fan;
* second-row seat covers with a dog pattern design (matches the bed fabric);
* all-season rubber floor mats with a toy bone pattern;
* a spill-resistant water bowl; and
* Dog Friendly exterior emblems.

The future of dog travel looks bright :)

Rescued dog joins ship crew

via stuff.co.nz

Always good to read about happy endings. The only thing missing from this is that the dog is unlikely to be reunited with his family because he did not have a microchip in... sad to think there are people looking for him. Hoping he is happy and cared for anyway.
New Zealand has been reeling about the latest horror of the man who shot his neighbours' 33 dogs... disturbing news reports of the massacre do not help us all cope with it.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3269732/Neighbour-dispute-leaves-33-dogs-dead
We badly need tougher laws for these situations. Prolonged frenzied killing of animals does not say a lot for the man's personality! The dilemma is always working out the two sides to the story - and I am not sure why the man had 33 dogs, and whether we would all be outraged if they had attacked a visitor. The main issue is that if it was required, the dogs should have been rehomed or killed humanely, not slaughtered in fear.

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

Rescued dog joins ship crew

via stuff.co.nz

Always good to read about happy endings. The only thing missing from this is that the dog is unlikely to be reunited with his family because he did not have a microchip in... sad to think there are people looking for him. Hoping he is happy and cared for anyway.
New Zealand has been reeling about the latest horror of the man who shot his neighbours' 33 dogs... disturbing news reports of the massacre do not help us all cope with it.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3269732/Neighbour-dispute-leaves-33-dogs-dead
We badly need tougher laws for these situations. Prolonged frenzied killing of animals does not say a lot for the man's personality! The dilemma is always working out the two sides to the story - and I am not sure why the man had 33 dogs, and whether we would all be outraged if they had attacked a visitor. The main issue is that if it was required, the dogs should have been rehomed or killed humanely, not slaughtered in fear.

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

Caprica, "Rebirth": She, robot

I said some general thoughts about "Caprica" in this morning's column, so a few more specific ones on the second episode coming up just as soon as I let the old subconscious find the answers...

"Do I look male to you?" -Zoe
"Yeah." -Lacy
"Frak." -Zoe

"Caprica" is about a whole lot of things, but at its center, it's about a teenage girl (or a digital facsimile of her) who's been turned into a giant metal killing machine. It's a misunderstood monster story.

And if there was a point in the three episodes I've seen (including the pilot and next week's) where I knew I was in with this series for a while, it was when I saw the visual device in which half the time we see the Cylon body, and half the time we see Zoe (still dressed for the holo-band rave). Something about the image of Alessandra Torresani being treated like another frakking toaster cut to the heart of the artificial intelligence issue. (It's also, at times, very funny, in a way the grim-by-design "BSG" very rarely allowed itself to be.)

(On the other hand, given the virulent hatred many "BSG" fans had towards the theological portions of that show's finale, I wonder how people will react to the idea of this creature as a "trinity" - part Zoe, part avatar, part robot - given how overt the parallel is to Christianity.)

"Rebirth" was mainly about dealing with the aftermath of the terrorist bombing, of Daniel and Joe's falling-out, but it also did a lot more world-building in its depiction of Little Tauron, and Sister Clarice's polygamous family (including Scott Porter from "Friday Night Lights" as one of her husbands), and I liked a lot of the little touches like seeing the fans at the Pyramid game place both hands over their heart before the anthem played.

And at the end, right before Bear McCreary got to dust off the drums from the "BSG" theme song, Amanda Graystone (wracked with guilt and grief and mania) detonated a rhetorical bomb at the memorial by announcing (incorrectly) that Zoe was responsible for what happened on the train. That was a powerful moment, but it was also preceded by that awkward flashback montage of events from earlier in the episode, and all I could think about was David Simon ranting about how HBO made him put something similar at the end of "The Wire" pilot because they didn't yet trust the intelligence of his audience. Jane Espenson and the rest of the "Caprica" gang have been around the block a while, so they should know what their target audience can and can't figure out on their own by now, and I'm hoping that's the last we'll see of a narrative shortcut like that.

Overall, though, I was very pleased, after waiting months to see what came after the pilot on DVD.

What did everybody else think?

Dollhouse, "Epitaph Two": End at the beginning

And so we've come to an end of "Dollhouse." A review of the finale - or, really, some thoughts about the series as a whole - coming up just as soon as I tell you that I used to be a landscape architect...

What an odd little show was "Dollhouse." The premise seemed like a silly idea - or, at least, the early execution made it seem so - Eliza Dushku seemed miscast in a role that called for more versatility than she could muster, and the best and most important episode by far is one that never actually aired on television. (And if you didn't watch it in its many non-TV iterations, I hope you were able to make some sense of "Epitaph Two," because the finale assumed you'd seen it and didn't bother with hand-holding.)

And yet somehow, Joss Whedon and company made me care enough about the show and, especially, about its characters, that I... Well, I'm not exactly sad it's over, because I still believe the concept was too limited, and what made the last run of episodes so good was that Joss and company knew the end was coming and they didn't have to hold back. But I'm happy that Joss got to mostly end the show on his own terms, to give characters like Victor and Sierra and Topher(*) some closure, and to finish the story he started - even if he had to do it in a rushed, shoestring budget way.

(*) Ultimately, the degree to which I was invested in Topher's fate - Topher! - may be the most incredible thing about "Dollhouse" from "Epitaph One" on. This was a character I viewed as symbolic of most of what wasn't working about the show in the early days, but once Topher began developing a conscience, Fran Kranz and the writers consistently knocked it out of the park. I have no idea if this was a course correction or the plan all along - show us an amoral man, then show him discovering morality with the highest stakes possible - but damn, did it work.

Because here's the thing about Joss Whedon: he makes me care about the kinds of shows I shouldn't (and usually don't) care about. Vampires hold no intrinsic appeal to me, yet I never missed an episode of "Buffy." The premise of "Firefly" is fundamentally silly, yet I love that show and have watched it and the "Serenity" movie many times over. And, again, here was a show that had no business working, yet I found episodes like "Man on the Street," "A Spy in the House of Love" and "Belonging" to be terribly engrossing. And he does that because he's great at creating and casting characters(**), and at making them seem real and vital and sympathetic no matter what the show is about. I think space cowboys are silly, but I cared about Mal Reynolds. And, ultimately, I wanted things to work out okay for Victor and Sierra - or, at least, for them and the other characters to get some kind of ending.

(**) He's particularly good with supporting characters. Buffy and Angel were interesting to a point, but "Firefly" is the only Whedon show where I found myself liking and being entertained by the star as much as I cared about the second bananas.

And "Epitaph Two" offered plenty of closure, as well as just enough in the way of happy endings to feel satisfying without completely undermining what we saw in "Epitaph One."

Priya and Tony wind up together with their son, albeit after a lot of bumpy years and a lot of USB uploads for Tony/Victor. Topher gets to undo all the personality wipes his tech called, even if he can't undo all the collateral damage that came with it, and he has to sacrifice his life to do it. (Though after his knowledge of all the pain he caused, death was an obvious blessing for him.) Paul dies, but Alpha (returned, reformed and mostly sane) finds a kind application for the dollhouse tech, and for Echo's ability to absorb and control multiple personalities at once, by arranging for her to imprint herself with Paul - to let him into herself(***), when she couldn't do it metaphorically when he was still alive.

(***) And because that moment comes so late in an incredibly busy finale, we don't have to spend much time dwelling on how the logistics of this would work. If Paul is now a part of Echo, and she can love him, does that mean her other various personalities can have relationships with each other?

There's not enough time (or money in the budget or days on the schedule) to provide closure for everyone (Dominic, Whiskey), but an imperfect but often moving finale feels right for this show, you know?

We can argue about whether Fox meddled too much with the early episodes of the show, or if the concept itself was going to make "Dollhouse" a non-starter for a broadcast network-sized audience. But Fox did renew it, and they gave Joss enough warning to wrap things up, and they kept to their promise to air all the episodes in a relatively timely fashion (give or take a telethon). The show ultimately didn't work commercially, but the treatment was vastly better than a different Fox administration gave "Firefly."

Still, my ears couldn't help but perk up when FX president John Landgraf said at press tour that he had an upcoming lunch scheduled with Joss. Joss has sounded reluctant in the past to leave the familiarity (and, of course, the bigger budgets/paychecks) of network TV for cable, but I'm guessing/hoping this experience has finally convinced him it's worth sacrificing some dollars for more creative freedom and reduced viewer expectations. I think an unfettered Joss Whedon could make an absolutely kick-ass show for FX, or HBO, or whoever's smart enough to hire him and mostly leave him alone. And if the "Dollhouse" experience, while ultimately not a success, leads to that, then this will all have been worth it.

What did everybody else think?

Strange Glue and the Post-Rock Underground Vol. 3 (Compilation) (2010)

"As the new decade begins we all set off on ambitious missions to achieve, succeed and explore. For some people they do so by working hard, for others they get their travelling boots on and for those reading, it's probably portrayed as a quest for new music.

If you are from the latter group then here's us getting the ball rolling, a compilation of the finest Post-Rock music around. A scientifically-proven mix of awe-inspiring tracks from both established and fledgling bands. Eight tracks of new, rare or unreleased material to tickle your fancy, tickle your auditory canal and to tick all your boxes with incendiary sonic explosions.

There is of course a catch, much like your local drug-dealer, we give away the first hit free-of-charge in the knowledge that you'll keep coming back for more at slightly raised prices. This is what is called 'the music industry', so blow the moths from your wallet or purse and start purchasing some albums by these fine bands. Before that though, you can either stream the individual tracks from this comp below or use the 'download album' image to do just that (in .zip container format).

You can also still download our previous samplers free of charge which are all as equally spectacular, just follow the links below to be enlightened..." - Strange Glue Magazine.

Tracklist:
1.) The American Dollar - 'Landing'
2.) Pg.lost - 'Crystalline'
3.) Collapse Under The Empire - 'Crawling'
4.) Pelican - 'Strung Up From The Sky'
5.) The End Of The Ocean - 'Setting Sail'
6.) Analog Sound - 'Потеряно в переводе'
7.) Microfilm - 'State & Island'
8.) Eimog - 'Saved By Thirteen'

Website
Older Compilations
Download / Preview

Horror Icons (Literally!)

"If you are designing some project that is supposed to be scary – be it a Halloween-themed site, a private blog or an online-store with some particular merchandise – you may need some beautiful yet scary icons to set up the atmosphere on your site. David Arazim created a horror icon set for this very purpose. The set contains 8 icons (axe, bat, eye, grave, gun, jason, skull, voodoo) and is available for free download and use."

I found these icons while searching the web, courtesy of Smashing Magazine. Click here to see the original post and grab them free of chrage.

--J/Metro

BloggeRhythms: Plight of A Color That Loves ART

Greetings. I am ORANGE.
I've had something on my little COLOR heart that has been bugging me for a little bit of a while now.
I have dedicated so much time and effort to promoting, boosting, retweeting, pushing, and/or marketing other DMV artist ish, that I really wonder if any of them will do the same for me when I start dropping records again. The idea of a huge DMV conglomerate is hard to imagine. Thing is, if it could or would happen, we would be a force unable to be ignored. So many areas have that benefit right now. New York, Atl, L.A., Detroit, Houston, Chicago. These artist all come together in their respective areas and boost each other to the masses on another level. The concept of a young dude like Kanye West working with a Chi-town legend such as Twista or Common is almost unheard of in the DMV. Some collaborations have occured such as Whitefolkz with Southeast Slim, or Wale with Uptown XO, but Nike Nando or Lyriciss should be able to have songs with Wale or Rare Essence. Just the real ability to have everything come full circle and really show the connection and build of the DMV nation. There is progress being made, but there is still so much work to do. Hopefully we will reach those supportive lanes some day soon.

Now please don't misinterpret my efforts as me trying to line up support for myself later. I sincerely support the artist that I support because I absolutely believe in their ART. Their lyrics, their music, their message, abilities, efforts are all things that I personally believe in and support. Either way support from others or not, long as people continue to make good music, I will continue to support good music. YOMESANE!

Peace*Love&Spaceships
iLL ORANGE ProPhet

Twitter
@ILLPROPHET
Facebook Personal Profile
Illyus Prophet
Ill Prophet Music Page -
www.ILLPROPHETMUSIC.com
Ill Prophet Facebook Group
Ill Prophet

My garage has a bad attitude

Dear my very own house,

I love you, I really do. You are beautiful, functional, and have everything I was looking for. But why are so many little things falling apart at such a young age. At 10 years, you should still be smoking hot .... ok, you are smoking hot, but I'm starting to see .. let's call them little wrinkles. Laugh lines if you will. I knew I would have to repaint the stairwell when we realized it was not built to fit a queen sized boxspring up ... apparently they fit coming down because we could see the bed marks on the carpet when we moved it ... definitely queen sized, yet no scuff marks even from getting the former owners bed down. Odd wouldn't you say? But no worries, that's easy-peasey when my faux-husband is a painter. But why did you let your towel rack droop in the bathroom soon after I moved in? My towels surely couldn't be heavier than the others ... in fact, I can guarantee they are more worn out than most therefore weigh less. Sup with that? And even though you got me with the back door knob - really pretty funny when I look back to the day I went to shut the door and the door stayed where it was while the knob ended up in my hand .... 2 feet away - but so not cool at the same time because those knobs are the most expensive to replace of all doorknobs. Blessing in disguise I suppose because I really don't know how much longer I'd be able to handle looking at those brass knobs. Apparantly, you didn't like them either. I understand that, really I do. Brassy, gold, whatever the colour is, I'm fed up just after 6 months ... 10 years you must have been pulling your hair out ... or dropping your towel racks, so I forgive you for that. I paid a visit to Home Depot last night and have a deal for you. If you quit messin around with your laundry room light so I don't have to sort laundry in the dark or hold a lighter up to the soap dispenser while I pour, then I promise to replace all the brassy gold in you. Cross my heart .... look on the kitchen table if you don't believe me ... brand-spankin new 'satin nickle' door knobs! All for you. And because you have been so good to me aside from the stuff mentioned here, as a wee treat, I decided to throw in some matching cabinet handles. I mean, you have to admit, along with the brassy gold, there is entirely too much oak in the place. Not trying to make you feel bad ... just sayin. And if you keep behaving, I promise to replace all the brassy-ass gold doorknobs and hinges for the same satin nickle knobs throughout the house. What do ya think about that? I know you like the sound of that ... Now, since we're on the subject, I also have to ask you to talk to your little brother ... aka the garage. Wtf is wrong with him, seriously, WTF!? I didn't do anything wrong to him, with the chip on his shoulder ... and mold on his walls, like hell. Winter in Calgary, snow chunked on the undercarriage that falls off the car and melts and flows where? Yep, right over to the corners where the drywall sits directly on the concrete ... you'd think he could direct it to the corners where the drywall sits an inch above the concrete so the melted snowy shit can flow under it? Noooo .... that's way too much to ask. I figured the garage had it in for me they day I saw the great big crack down the centre that I know was not there when I bought it .. I have pictures, I have proof. Bastard. I'll replace the drywall regardless of his bad behavior when our snow melts, like July or something because mold isn't something you want to mess around with, but he better behave after that. Don't even make me say what I'll do otherwise. Thank you dear house, again, I do heart you very much. You take care of me, I'll take care of you.

Love,

Your owner. The one that promises to try to help you stay young and beautiful for many more years to come.

PS: I'm sorry my cat puked on you last night. She got glow stick liquid in her mouth and if she didn't puke, she'd die or something .. I cleaned you up good, but am really sorry. I wont put a glow stick necklace on her and laugh when she runs around trying to get it off even again!

For more letters or to add your own (angry, happy, sad, confused, whatever they may be), head on over to Foursons blog

Burn Notice, "Friendly Fire": Devil inside

A review of "Burn Notice" from last night coming up just as soon as I pack my 8-tracks...

"This man is a freelance psychopath - and I'm the only one in a position to do anything about it." -Michael

"Friendly Fire" was a mixed bag of an episode, illustrating many of the series' strengths, but also some of its pitfalls.

On the one hand, it was a good Sam showcase, and offered a lot of spycraft tips (warehouse roofs are easy to bust into, ice cream carts can be rigged to blow) and cool action beats (Michael, Sam and Mack walk down the side of a building under heavy fire). And it followed up on last week's Michael/Madeline confrontation in showing a Michael who now accepts he's more vigilante than spy, and that helping people comes before any attempt to get back in.

On the other, Michael's satanic gangster character was too much to swallow. Michael's undercover characters always skirt the edge of caricature, and this guy - particularly in that goofy whisper he used - fell over it. Even though things kept blowing up whenever he snapped his fingers, I kept waiting for Omar or someone else to refuse to take him seriously until he talked in a normal tone of voice.

(Also problematic, but not in a "Burn Notice" structural way: how do you cast Danny Trejo in an episode where a bad guy wields a machete, and not make Trejo the guy with the machete?)

I'm reserving judgment on Gilroy until we see where this is going. Giving basically the same performance he did on Fox's annoying, short-lived international production "Mental," Chris Vance fit in much better as a cartoonish "Burn Notice" bad guy. But he also seemed very much like Michael Shanks as Victor. Gilroy's situation is different than Victor's, but "Burn Notice" has been on long enough that the danger of feeling repetitive is very real, so we'll see if this winds up seeming like a Carla retread or not.

What did everybody else think?

'Caprica' review - Sepinwall on TV

As I said last week, post-press tour fatigue prevented me from reviewing "Caprica" in time for the TV premiere of the pilot, but since many of those who care got to see that months ago (when I reviewed it the first time), I felt comfortable coming in a week late with a column review. There are pilot spoilers in there (it's rerunning tonight at 7, followed by episode two), with advance warning, so be careful as you read.

Back tonight with specific thoughts on the second episode, "Rebirth."

Give us this day

It’s Statewide Exams Week for the high schools in Snowstorm Region. Classes are canceled so that high school kids can take these tests. Of course, most kids take their exams in June. The January ones are make-up exams. The week ought really be called Chance for High School Kids to Play Computer Games While Their Parents Are at Work Week. With-a-Why has had a relaxed week at home.

I suggested to him that since the rest of us are busy with work and classes, he ought to do all the housework this week. He gave me an incredulous look at this suggestion. Housework is not his strong point. The youngest child of the family, he’s very used to having a crowd of older siblings to do that sort of thing.

But he has been on a bread-making binge. He’s made a loaf of bread every day for the last couple of weeks. He can only make one loaf at a time because he uses a bread machine, and often the entire loaf is eaten within ten minutes of when he removes it from the machine. All my kids love homemade bread.

When I came home today, driving through strong winds that were swirling white grains of snow across the road, I walked into the scent of baking bread and the sound of piano music. I never get tired of that smell. The kitchen hadn’t been cleaned and the living area of the house looked as messy as it had the night before, but I felt content as I settled down on the couch with a cup of hot tea and watched my youngest son’s fingers flying across the keys.

Genre Films on TCM Tomorrow (01.29.10)

Bright and early--well, dark and early, actually--tomorrow morning (Friday January 29th), Turner Classic movies is playing a suspense film with the unlikely casting combination of Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr, and...Bob Hope?

4:15 AM My Favorite Brunette (1947)
"A baby photographer mistaken for a private eye ends up framed for murder."

Then, late tomorrow night/early Saturday morning, Turner Classic Movies is showcasing a couple of classic crime films on TCM Underground.

2:45 AM Girls on the Loose (1958)
"A nightclub owner runs an all-woman robbery gang."

4:15 AM Teen-Age Crime Wave (1955)
"Juvenile delinquents pull a young innocent into their crime spree."

Consider yourself in the know.
--J/Metro

Conservative Reactions to Obama State of the Union Speech

Conservatives reacted to the president's State of the Union speech. One count had the "I/me" count at 96; another at over 100.

President Obama promised to fight for the middle class--instead of sneering arrogantly at them as he did throughout 2009.

As can be expected, reaction was swift.

So, we present: a baker's dozen (13) of conservative reactions to President Obama's Statue of the Union speech.

---

ALSO at DBKP: Obama State of the Union: No Apologies for Dissing, Demeaning and Demonizing Middle Class

---

There's a story of an ex hausted tenor at La Scala who, facing repeated cries of "Encore," responded that he couldn't go on. A man rose in the audience to say, "You'll keep singing until you get it right."

That seems to be the defining principle of the Obama administration -- whose response to every problem, every setback, every hiccup and challenge has been, simply, "more Obama."
Jonah Goldberg, Obama's answer for America: more of me

“I found this one to be too long, too political, and if he had an intention to reach out to Republicans, I can tell you it did not achieve the objective. Nor did I think it was as much an assessment of the state of the nation as it was a political tirade.”
--Senator Jon Kyle, Sen. Kyl: Obama Speech Too Political

The bottom line from last night was Obama basically said, "Things sucked when I got here and you're lucky to have me, even if you are too stupid to know that. I understand you don't like what I proposed last year and...I don't care. I'm awesome and you're not, so deal with it".

As I said the night of Scott Brown's election, Obama's presidency is over as he originally envisioned it. Apparently he hasn't gotten the memo and that's only going to deepen his problems.
Drew M., Obama's State Of The Union: I'm Awesome But You And That Bush Guy Suck

Barack Obama has lost his promise. He has lost his momentum. He has lost his touch. He has lost his filibuster-proof Senate majority. He has lost his first year in office.

Tonight, he lost his grip on reality.
--Michael Gerson, State of the Union: Obama's reality problem

The president gave a campaign speech tonight, but the Democrats had better hope that this is not what their campaign speeches are like this year. It was amazingly disconnected from the moment — treating and describing the public as downtrodden, depressed, but resilient, when the public mood seems more like fed up.
--Yuval Levin, The State of Obama

4) Ending the influence of lobbyists and operating transparent government remains as important a promise to make today as it was during the 2008 campaign.

3) Joe Biden is very, very bored.

2) The problem with Washington is that everyone is eternal campaign mode. Accordingly, everyone should follow the President’s example and limit themselves to no more than 158 interviews and 411 speeches per year.
--Rich Trzupek, Top 10 Things I Learned Listening To SOTU Last Night

Watching him list one costly agenda item after another, I couldn’t help feeling that we need a constitutional amendment that requires politicians to start promises with the words “I want to take your money and.” It might be that such a rule would constrain them, since I can’t imagine anyone having the courage to say, “I want to take your money and use it to pay off the college loan for that rich kid down the block,” and “I want to take your money and use it to help your plumber buy a new wrench.”
--Kevin Hassett, Cut-and-Paste State of the Union

After that bizarre, defiant, blame-dodging, position-ditching, doubling-back, credit-grabbing performance, I’d be inclined to call Barack Obama a joke. But protocol and manners require me to call him the president of the United States, and after all, we’re stuck with him in that role for another three years, at least.

I don’t really want to go down the road the left did, with their rabid hatred and childish insults of George Bush. It’s probably too late to swear off that. I’ve tried really hard to be respectful to the office and the fact that he holds it. But I’m beginning to get the left’s visceral reaction to everything our often inarticulate, chimp-like former president did and said. The difference between the Bush and Obama cases is, that clown-like cheering section notwithstanding last night, even Obama’s own stalwarts are rejecting half of what he does and says, and feel he has betrayed them and let them down.
Jules Crittenden, About Last Night

All in all, this was a nonchalant performance that ran for well over an hour. The president’s above-it-all cynicism, mocking, and dry humor didn’t work. The whole thing reminded me of a flat grad-school seminar with a snickering prof talking down to clueless students.
--Victor David Hansen, The Usual Straw Men, &c.

Obama's not the only one doubling down on stupid.

Did I ever tell you the slogan on the masthead -- the Mencken quote -- I got from the quote-page (you know, the epigram, or whatever, that novels start with) from the Christopher Buckley book Wet Work?

Did I also tell you the book sucked and I never picked up another Buckley book again? And when, for example, a girlfriend tried to get me to see Thank You For Smoking, I refused, knowing it would be a precious, fey pile of repressed-cum-wannabe-lurid crap like Wet Work was?

Yeah. He sucks. He's always sucked.

He continues sucking.

One can do the whole verb-inflection exercise for the verb "to suck" with Christopher Buckley.
--Ace, Chris "Rara Avis" Buckley: Watching Obama, I Was Beating My Dick Like It Owed Me Money

[NOTE: I know that, technically, Ace wasn't commenting on Obama's SOTU; he was commenting on C. Buckley's commenting. But, I thought it was funny and I wanted to include it.]


It sounds like an all-purpose speech for President Anyone: We've met here in good times and bad, war and peace, prosperity and depression, Shrove Tuesday and Super Bowl Sunday, riding high in April, shot down in May. We've been up and down and over and out and I know one thing. Each time we find ourselves flat on our face, we pick ourselves up and get back in the race. That's life, pause for applause . . .

There's no sense that, even as platitudinous filler, it arises organically from who this man is. As mawkish and shameless as the Clinton SOTUs were, they nevertheless projected a kind of authenticity. With Obama, the big-picture uplift seems unmoored from any personal connection — and he's not good enough to make it real. Same with all those municipal name-checks.
--Mark Steyn, Mister Speaker

"The president is going to explain why he thinks the American people are angry," said his spokesman Robert Gibbs, teeing up the State of the Union address. Is this what the American people crave? To have their anger explained to them by the person causing it?
George Neumayr, The President Who Knew He Was Right

I have watched many, many State of the Union speeches. This is the most partisan, least presidential of them all. His rhetoric, his glances at the GOP side, and his almost mocking tone at times — not to mention his over-the-top dissembling about the deficit, among other things — will not, I predict, improve his position with the public. Nor should it.
--Mark R. Levin, Tonight


Compiled by Mondo Frazier
image: DDBKP file
Originally posted at DBKP: Obama State of the Union: Conservative Reactions









style="border:none;vertical-align:middle;"/>